Meals · Tamil Nadu

Veg Kurma

The roadside-hotel kurma of Tamil Nadu: mixed vegetables in a fragrant coconut, fennel and roasted gram gravy, gentle enough to mop up with flaky parotta or soft chapati.

Veg Kurma

Prep 20 min · Cook 30 min · Total 50 min · Serves 4

Ingredients

Coconut paste

  • ½ cup Fresh grated coconut
  • 2 tbsp Roasted gram (pottukadalai)
  • 8 Cashews
  • 1 tsp Fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp Poppy seeds
  • 3 Green chillies
  • ½ cup Water

Kurma

  • 3 tbsp Oil
  • 1 inch Cinnamon stick
  • 3 Cloves
  • 2 Green cardamom
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 1 Star anise
  • 1 Onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp Ginger-garlic paste
  • 1 Tomato, chopped
  • ¼ tsp Turmeric
  • 1 tsp Coriander powder
  • ½ tsp Red chilli powder
  • 1 Potato, cubed
  • 1 Carrot, cubed
  • 10 Green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 cup Cauliflower florets
  • ½ cup Green peas
  • 1 ½ cups Water
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 2 tbsp Coriander leaves, chopped
  • 8 Mint leaves

Method

  1. Grind the paste. Soak the cashews in hot water for 10 minutes. Grind them with the coconut, roasted gram, fennel, poppy seeds, green chillies and 1/2 cup water to a very smooth paste.
  2. Whole spices and onion. Heat the oil in a pan and add the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bay leaf and star anise. When they sizzle, add the onion and cook until soft and light golden. Add the ginger-garlic paste and cook until the raw smell goes.
  3. Tomato and spices. Add the tomato, turmeric, coriander powder and chilli powder and cook until the tomato is soft and mushy.
  4. Cook the vegetables. Add the potato, carrot, beans, cauliflower, peas, salt and 1 1/2 cups water. Cover and simmer until the vegetables are just tender. (Or pressure cook for 1 whistle.)
  5. Add the coconut. Stir in the coconut paste, rinsing out the jar with a splash of water. Simmer gently for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring, until the kurma thickens and a sheen of oil appears. Don't let it boil hard or the coconut can split.
  6. Finish. Tear in the mint and coriander, check the salt and rest for 5 minutes. The kurma thickens as it stands, so loosen with hot water before serving with parotta, chapati, idiyappam or dosa.

Tips

Keep the kurma pourable rather than thick if it's going with parotta; the bread soaks it up. Roasted gram gives body without needing any cream.